When Tea Steps Into a Glass — and onto a Plate
Sunrise × Shanji × UNA · A Night of Shared Flavour
2025.06In the early summer of 2025 we handed our Lishan and Alishan high-mountain oolong to two people who know how to tell a story — the bartender at Shanji, and Michelin pastry chef Una.
One answered with spirits, the other with dessert, each responding to the same tea from the mountains. That night, at the Shanji bar, tea was no longer only tea: it was a cocktail, a dessert, a memory of the mountains.
One Tea, Another Shape
What Sunrise brought was the breath of the mountains — the cool clarity of Lishan, the soft sweetness of Alishan mist. We gave the tea away to ask a simple question: given a different vessel, what face would the same oolong wear? Shanji carried the tea's aroma and finish in a glass; Una traced its layers and lingering notes in dessert. From garden to bar to pastry studio, three pairs of hands passed one mountain down the line.
When Oolong Meets Spirits, Flavour Begins to Speak
Shanji made tea the lead — three cocktails, each with its own character. Not tea buried under liquor, but tea unfurling within it, weaving into layers. Three glasses in a row: three ways into the mountains.
Three Tea Cocktails
- HoneylandAlishan oolonggreen plum · buttery greens · magnolia
- Pine LanguageLishan oolongmung bean · century egg · breadfruit
- Summer FruitAlishan oolongpear · soy milk
The Mountain's Aroma, Made Into a Bite
Tea can be a dessert, too. Michelin pastry chef Una took Lishan and Alishan oolong as her muse, translating their aroma into something delicate and layered — a familiar floral sweetness on the palate, the rhythm of the mountains hiding in the finish. Three desserts, each echoing one of the three cocktails: tea in another form.
Three Tea Desserts
- HoneylandAlishan oolongwhite peach · lemongrass · roasted barley
- Pine LanguageLishan oolongpine nut · mung bean · salted yolk · osmanthus
- Summer FruitAlishan oolongpassion fruit · kumquat · pomelo blossom
THE NIGHT'S MENU
One Last Note — from the Founder
I'm Yi-Zhen, the founder of Sunrise Tea. This is the first time I've placed myself inside the brand's story.
Our tea comes from my family's gardens in Lishan and Alishan — growing, picking and making it has been our family's life for years. I've always tended to stand behind the tea, telling myself that caring for it well was enough. But this collaboration with Shanji and Una showed me something: how far a tea travels really depends on who it meets.
So I'd like to step forward, slowly, and let you meet the people behind the tea. Thank you to Shanji, to Una, and to everyone who was there that night. We set out from the same mountain — and turned a piece of its scenery into a memory you can taste.
The Taste of the Mountains, Met Anew
This limited collaboration has come to a close, but the high-mountain oolong behind it is always here. If you'd like to meet Sunrise over a single cup of tea, we're waiting for you.